Boeing rejection: One city’s loss is another’s gain

One city’s loss is another’s big win: The Seattle Post-Intelligencer front page from Saturday, March 1, 2008 and the front page from the Mobile Press-Register in Alabama from Monday, March 3, 2008.

Seattle P-I business reporter Andrea James is in Mobile, Ala., gauging the reaction to last week’s crushing news about the U.S. Air Force tanker contract that didn’t go to The Boeing Co.

On Friday, the Air Force snubbed the U.S. aeorspace giant, announcing that a $40 billion military contract would go to a team that includes the parent company of European-based Airbus. (The foreign roots of the winning bidder sparked an emotional early discussion about nationalism in U.S. trade on an earlier post.)

Final assembly for the planes will be in Mobile. Andrea says that residents appear exuberant — random parties are scheduled and a bigger blast is planned for Friday.

We’re going to be keeping up with Andrea throughout the day. What do you want to know about Mobile? What sorts of questions do you want answered? Let us know, and we’ll phone them in. Leave a comment or send an e-mail.

P.S. — One woman, upon learning that Andrea was visiting from Seattle, said, “Ooh, are you writing about Boo-eing?” Shortly after, in polite Southern fashion, she apologized.